Angel Trees produce bounty of gifts

Denise Kelly lost her job and her car was repossessed but she was able to get a ride to the Clay County Salvation Army office, where she received toys and other gifts for her children.

"This is so wonderful, especially for us unemployed and low-income people," said Kelly. "It's a blessing."

Walt Laun of the Clay County Salvation Army loads toys up for Denise Kelly, a single mom with two children at home. Kelly lost her job and recently got her car repossessed. MARY MARAGHY/The Times-Union

This Christmas season, the Clay County Salvation Army provided gifts for more than 500 families. That's more than twice as many families as were served last year, said Capt. Pam Moretz.

The gifts were provided by Clay County businesses, schools, churches, civic groups, families and individuals who adopted a family, families or just one person through the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.

Angel Trees were on display at the Orange Park Mall and in stores throughout Clay County. They are Christmas trees with paper angels hanging on them. Each angel has a person's name, age, their Christmas wish list, sizes and other information.

Volunteers help distribute bags of toys to needy Clay County families. The toys were gathered through the Angel Tree program. MARY MARAGHY/The Times-Union

The Salvation Army accepted applications Oct. 1 through Nov. 1. from families who wanted their names on angels. Those accepted had to meet poverty guidelines. Most families who qualified had single-parent households.

One family -- with two parents -- had 17 children, Moretz said wide-eyed.

Moretz said Clay County is one of the few Salvation Army chapters in the country that puts each member of a family on an angel. Most Salvation Army chapters only put the names of children age 13 and younger on the angels, Moretz said.

Area businesses including McDonald's, Kmart and the Orange Park Medical Center adopted many angels. One company, AmeriCredit, Moretz said, snatched 188 angels from a tree in less than 20 minutes.

"Twenty minutes! I've never seen that happen in my 20 years with Salvation Army," Moretz said.

Clay County school children filled stockings for angels that were piled in plastic barrels, the same ones used to collect cans for food drives.

Bikes lined one wall. Nearby, dozens of cafeteria-style tables were loaded with clear bags of gifts. Each was labeled and numbered. Recipients checked in, gave their name and number and volunteers fetched their goodies for them. Many required grocery carts.

The items aren't wrapped so that parents can wrap them at home and feel more involved in the giving, said Salvation Army worker Walt Laun, who wore a Santa hat and loaded trunks with gifts.

Gideon bibles were distributed and volunteers from the Salvation's Army's Home League were available for people who wanted prayer, guidance or just someone to talk to, Moretz said.

"They are here to address the spiritual aspect of Christmas," Moretz said.